Root decay preventing replacement bridge? (teeth, gums, implants, dentist)

[chattyneighbor]

My great aunt had a couple of bridges in her mouth that fell out and couldn't be restored. At the time she was told she needed her gums scrapped at an oral surgeon. Fast forward a couple years and she finally worked up the courage to let me take her to the dentist. Meanwhile she has been walking around with many missing teeth. The dentist told her that besides implants which she can't afford - the only option is to extract all the rest of her teeth and put in removable dentures because there is no "base" left to put any crowns or replace the lost bridges. The dentist said - by looking at her xrays for 2 seconds - that her roots were too decayed. Said nothing about the condition of her gums and didn't even look into her mouth. Just going by the Xrays. Anybody ever been told this before? Just never heard of not being able to do crowns or bridges. My aunt now wants to forget the whole thing again.

[toofache32]

The teeth are rotted below the gums. They are no longer fixable. So the gum condition no longer matters since they will soon be no teeth.

I've never understood what people mean by "scraping gums".

[oldgardener]

Originally Posted by chattyneighbor

Said nothing about the condition of her gums and didn't even look into her mouth. Just going by the Xrays. Anybody ever been told this before? Just never heard of not being able to do crowns or bridges. My aunt now wants to forget the whole thing again.

Yes, you can tell just by looking at x-rays that teeth are not fixable. Crowns and bridges need structure for support. If she can't get implants, then a denture is the answer. The gums don't matter at that point.

I'm sorry your great aunt is having this trouble, hope she gets some nice comfortable dentures. Tell her that her smile will be beautiful again, sometimes that helps for motivation.